Contents

Plot

As Ash and Paul’s epic battle continues, Ash finds himself with three Pokémon remaining, while Paul has only two. Ash certainly seems to have the advantage as his Gliscor takes out Paul’s Drapion—but then Paul’s Electivire makes short work of both Gliscor and Pikachu, leaving each Trainer with only a single Pokémon!

Paul starts to taunt Infernape saying it was good that he released it. As the final face-off begins, Ash’s Infernape has taken quite a bit of damage from Toxic Spikes, while Electivire is relatively unscathed. But something new seems to have entered Ash and Paul’s rivalry: a mutual respect for each other’s skills. This new respect shows in the intensity of the action, which builds to the moment when it appears that Ash’s Infernape is about to go down.

Assuming Infernape is unable to battle, the Judge starts to call the match—until some taunting from both Paul and Electivire raise Infernape to levels of power and fighting spirit unlike anything we’ve seen! And, after Electivire throws one last Thunder Punch and Infernape counters with a powered-up Flare Blitz, both Pokémon remain standing briefly...until Electivire finally collapses, unable to battle. Ash and Infernape are declared the winners!

Afterward, Ash runs to find Paul as he’s leaving, and their respect for each other is obvious. Paul remarks on how powerful Ash’s Infernape has grown, and Ash surprises Paul by cheerfully inviting him to battle again soon. It’s a touching moment, capping a bout that will not be soon forgotten by anyone who witnessed it!

Trivia

Professor Oak's Pokémon lecture isn't shown at the end of the episode. Instead, a preview from the upcoming Best Wishes series was shown.

Type: Wild, the instrumental version of A Small Thing, and music from Jirachi: Wish Maker and Giratina and the Sky Warrior were used in this episode.

As of this episode, this is the first time that a single battle has spanned more than two consecutive episodes.

The battle also had the most Pokémon affected with status ailments ever in just one battle in the anime, with two Pokémon getting burned, five being poisoned and two (counting Buizel's Ice Aqua Jet) being frozen.

Errors

When Pikachu used Volt Tackle on Electivire, he suffered from recoil damage even though recoil damage is nullified when the move causing it is ineffective against the target.

When Infernape uses Mach Punch on Electivire while Blaze is active, for a split second, Infernape looks as if it doesn't have its Blaze active.

In one scene, Ash's Diamond and Pearl hat looked like the one he wore in Hoenn.

When Electivire uses Thunder on Infernape, the red part of Electivire's tail was pink.

In Familiarity Breeds Strategy!, the announcer declares Paul and Ash's match the first match of the quarter-finals, and all of the quarter-final, semi-final, and final matches are fought on the same field. Yet at the end of the match, the pairings for the semi-finals are already revealed on screen without scheduling.

Dub edits

Type: Wild was replaced in the English dub with an instrumental of The Ultimate Challenge while another instrumental replaced the instrumental of A Small Thing.

Gallery

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